


Move in from the Dark

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Prompt Collection [82]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, OT3, Tony Stark Has A Heart, and it breaks for Stephen, so does Pepper's, very vague
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 21:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21380944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: It was supposed to be a fun night in. Instead a careless comment wakes sleeping demons.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Stephen Strange, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Prompt Collection [82]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1126062
Comments: 23
Kudos: 148
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Move in from the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> A long, long time ago I got this anon-ask:  
_drpepperony angst: a private night with the three goes horribly wrong, and tony and pepper learn about the extent of stephen's childhood abuse._
> 
> Uff. Wow. What a killer of an ask. This is probably way fluffier and gentler than you expected, dear anon, but I really don't go for the graphic descriptions. Just not my thing. I'm all about the comfort. Things are kept very vague; Pepper and Tony are more than smart enough to figure things out and some things don't have to be said out loud to be crystal clear anyway.  
Tony survived Endgame and he and Pepper first formed a close friendship with Stephen that slowly became more. That's basically the backstory for this. <strike>Any my own personal canon.</strike>  
Title from _All of This and Nothing_ by Dave Gahan & Soulsavers.
> 
> @badthingshappenbingo: _Flashbacks_

"How can anyone…" Pepper broke off, still too horrified to actually find words. Tony could sympathize. Instead of useless words he shrugged and they both looked down at Stephen who was curled up into a tight ball of misery between them, his face pressed tightly against Pepper's thigh.

After a moment of deliberation Tony reached out and very slowly and very carefully put his hand on Stephen's shoulder. They both held their breath when he made contact but there wasn't any reaction.

They both had instinctively known that they would have to be careful with Stephen the moment they decided that they wanted him. Not only in their bed, but in their life.

Tall, gorgeous, strong, confident Stephen Strange - Pepper had taken one look at him and seen the truth behind the pretty façade and it hadn't taken Tony long to catch up with her. It was never easy to look into a mirror but it was even harder when the mirror showed things that were better left in the past.

"I thought that Howard was a monster," Tony finally confessed when he was sure that Stephen had so far retreated into himself that he couldn't hear them talking. "But this…"

"Howard _was_ a monster," Pepper hissed sharply. "Don't even dare to think anything else. He never hurt you like Stephen's father hurt him but that doesn't mean that he's suddenly the best father ever. Or any kind of father." Her ire vanished as quickly as it had come. "I can't even imagine having a child and not loving and protecting them with everything I have."

Tony looked up towards Morgan's room, thankful that it was the middle of the night. _Never_, he promised himself. _She'll never know._ Neither about Howard nor the piece of shit who had somehow managed to contribute half of the DNA that had been destined to become the man Tony loved. "I can't either," he said softly. " I've experienced it first-hand and to this day I can't understand."

"Tony," Pepper started but he shook his head. This wasn't about him. He'd dealt with Howard and his feelings towards him by being the best goddamn father he could be for his little girl. This was about Stephen. Their beautiful, wonderful third who right now was busy being caught in a fucking flashback.

_There are landmines_, Stephen had warned them when things had started to go from friendly into something more. _Probably more than I can really remember. There's a lot of shit I buried under other shit in an attempt to forget about it._ He'd paused then, nervously playing with an edge of the Cloak until Pepper had reached out and held on to his right hand. Tony had taken his left one a heartbeat later. _My mind's been screwed so much with I really don't know what's going on in there some days. Sorry._

The worst thing had been that Stephen had been totally lucid and emotionless. Just laying out the facts and probably expecting to be left alone after that. Pepper and Tony had been quick to reassure him that it was okay, they could deal with whatever may come up. They had become even more careful with Stephen after that conversation and a few weeks later Tony had held a moaning and panting mess in his arms while Pepper carefully fingered Stephen open for Tony to take him for the first time.

Everything had gone beautifully; Stephen had fit into their life like the missing piece he was and everything was fun and sex and happiness.

Until today. When Stephen, already tired and miserable because the weather made his hands extra-sensitive, clashed with an irritable Pepper just recovering from a migraine, and Tony had made everything worse with a careless comment about how it all reminded it of his parents.

"Must be nice to have memories like that. My mother was too terrorized by my father to offer any kind of resistance when he let everything out on us."

_That_ had brought Tony back, quick. "Stephen?" he'd asked, already dreading the answer.

Stephen had grown pale and shied away as if he'd been hit. "Forget that I said anything."

By the time Tony and Pepper realized that something was seriously wrong he'd already turned around and left the room. Thankfully not through a portal but just to their shared bedroom with the brand-new, extra big bed.

They had taken one look at the curled-up ball of misery in the middle of it - Stephen's usual place - and had taken position on each side. Some careful moving around had resulted in Stephen's face mashed against Pepper, hiding the eerily blank look on his face.

"Careful," Pepper reminded him when Tony laid down beside Stephen and embraced him from behind. He nodded, too busy trying to figure out how to fix things to do anything else.

"Stephen? Darling? Can you hear me?" He could remember his own episodes; how helpless he was trapped inside his own mind with seemingly no way out. The thought of Stephen suffering the same was horrible. "It's okay. We're here. You're safe. Nobody's going to hurt you." Ever again, if Rescue and Iron Man had anything to say about it.

Pepper stayed silent but put took Stephen's left hand in her own to ground him and remind him of her presence.

"It was so long ago," Stephen said after an eternity. "I really managed to forget it." There was such innocent wonder in his voice and Tony could feel fresh tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he offered in lieu of anything else. _If I could I would go back in time again to save you_, he wanted to promise.

"It's ancient history. Literally." With Pepper's help and Tony's steading hand on his waist he managed to sit up. "Sorry, it caught me off-guard. I didn't want to ruin our evening." Just like that their Stephen was back and apart from some worse-than-usual shaking in his hands he seemed almost normal.

_Almost._ "What happened, Stephen? Please, we need to know." Pepper had always been the much braver of the two of them, Tony was once more forced to acknowledge. While speaking she gently brushed a strand of hair out of Stephen's face while Tony embraced him from behind and rested his chin on Stephen's shoulder.

Tony couldn't really see it but he could hear the bitter smile in his voice. "So that you can treat me even more like some fragile china doll? Thanks, but no." He swallowed hard. "Whatever you're thinking of about now - it's probably right. There was a reason I used to be an arrogant asshole who didn't let anyone close. It was safer that way."

"Was?" Tony couldn't help but ask.

Stephen leaned back into his embrace and lowered his head to stare at his lap. Tony's arms around his waist, hands loosely clasped over his belly. His own hands on his thighs, Pepper still holding on to them. They had soon realized that Stephen liked to be held by both of them at the same time and indulged him as often as possible.

"I've come to realize that I'm safer with you two than I ever was on my own." Now there was genuine warmth in his words.

"We'll protect you," Pepper promised and leaned down to kiss his hands.

"You'll never be hurt again," Tony promised, just holding on and mentally rearranging his plans for the night.

He'd expected some nice sex, maybe with him watching Stephen making love to Pepper or doing the same to Stephen himself. He threw the mental images overboard with a shrug. Fuck sex, they had more important things to do. Stephen hadn't run away from them but towards their bedroom in his fear. That was good, brilliant in fact. Stephen trusted them to be here for him, to take care of him and not pressure him.

"What do you want?" he asked softly. A gentle smile from Pepper and a soft sigh from Stephen was his reward.

"A shower and a nap," was the eventual answer. "And," Stephen hesitated. "Not to be alone." He'd been alone for far too long already and it was nice that he'd started to see that.

"I'll keep you company in the bathroom while Tony checks on Morgan and makes us a nice nest to cuddle in," Pepper decided after a second of thinking.

Tony answered by gently squeezing Stephen's waist and pressing his forehead against his neck. He longed to kiss him but feared that it would be too much for now. Stephen would show him when he was ready again.

_Don't have too much fun without me._ He managed to keep the flippant comment back at the very last second. "Take you all the time you need. I'll be waiting," he said instead and hesitantly let go of Stephen. "Just come back to me." He looked at both of them and hated the insecurity that had suddenly taken hold of him.

Pepper smiled at him and kissed his cheek while Stephen smiled gently at him. "Always," he promised and Pepper nodded her confirmation.

Tony forced a smile onto his face. "Great. I'll hold you to that." He gave in to temptation and caressed Stephen's face, just once, before he got up to check on Morgan. "I love you. Both of you. No matter what." Promise and reminder, all in one. He took a deep breath, nodded, and went off to go and see his girl.

"I have no idea where he got it from," he heard Pepper say when he was just out of the bedroom. "Not from his father, that's for sure."

Right, Pepper had never known the human Jarvis, Tony realized. He needed to tell her - and Stephen - about the man who'd actually raised him into a half-decent human being.

"We are not our fathers." Stephen's deep voice shook him to the core. "Thank the Vishanti for that. Tony made his own choices and they were the right ones."

Some rustling as they both also got up from the bed. "So did you, Stephen. Never forget that. Here, let me help you with that." Pepper was in full-out caretaking mode now and Stephen in good hands. Tony smiled, thanked his lucky stars for gifting him not only with a wonderful woman but an equally wonderful man in his life, and sneaked into the room of their daughter.

Right choices, indeed. Somehow, he'd made them. And gotten three people to love and protect in return. Sadness over Stephen's suffering still lingered but now it was overshadowed by love and the fierce desire to be there for him.

The start of the shower reminded him that he still had things to do and after looking at Morgan for a few more moments he went back to the bedroom to build them the nicest cuddle nest any adult had ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading - it's been a while since I hit you all with the angst, right? Poor Stephen, but at least he has two people who'll protect him no matter what now. Three, if we count Morgan and we all know that she's the first one to cuddle up to Stephen to cheer him up when he's sad. 💞
> 
> Tumblr post.


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